, 1887-12-25
C%HEYENNE'S CHANCE.
An Opportunity Presented Which
Should be Grasped.
A Practical Talk on Silver Crown
Copper Ore.
With Some Facts Which are Fresh
and Striking.
Our Mining Interests.

ing nuuStr throughout the West, has
also, in an equal degree, entered into the
work in the'new mining districts in this
territory. There has been great improve
ment in this industry since one year ago,
and especially is this tue case in copper
mining. The advance in the price of
copper from ten to seventeen cents per
pound, which price will probably increase
to twenty cents during the coming year,
has brought a more hopeful outlook and
increased activity wherever this metal is
found. Copper mining in this country
has become a very uniform industry,
prices may vary, but the work at the
mines goes on steadily with little apparent
change. There is a gradual increase in
the magnitude of the operations in dis
tricts at a distance from the great copper
producing sections in Michigan, resulting
in increased production and a correspond
ing l~essening of the cost.
Since the closing of two Of the principal
mines in the Lake Superior region. the
attention of those interested in copper
has been drawn to other sections where
this mineral is found. The world needs a
certain amount of copper in the manu-
features and arts, and it behooves those
who supply this want to look up new
sources. Wyoming, with its unlimited
store of this mineral, will certainly attract
the attention of the men whose ann it is
to controlthe copper market, and it should
be u duty. as it is to our interest, to ac.
quaint these people with our resources in
this particular.
Copper mining in this territory can be
made as certainly profitable as are other
undertakings requiring large expenditures
of money. Our mineral lodes are pretty
well understood; it is known generally
what they will yield, the conditions are
understood, the elements of the problem
are on hand. The leading mines have
demonstrated their ability to meet all the
conditions, and to conduct their operations
so that a profit shall accrue with assured
regularity. Mining, like other enter
prises, can be carried on with such reck-
49,
l~essness and extravaganza that utter ruin
must be the result, and if there are con-
spicuous instances of failure in the recent
history of this territory, the unfortunate
results may be traced to causes that were
readily foreseen. The final outcome could
have been predicted with all reasonable
certainty.
Copper mining of necessity requires a
great preliminary outlay. The work can
not be successfully prosecuted otherwise.
The rock, after it is mined, must be
crushed and stamped TO great f~ineness,
washed to separate the mineral from the
rock, and the copper finally smcltcd be
fore it can be sold. All these successive
mLnlpuIatiOns require mechanical appli-
anccs that are elaborate and costly.
Great skill and experience are essential
ton Of such work. No copper mines in
this territory cJn be successfully operated
otherwise than by all this necess lry out
lay. SO soon as the deposits have been
proved sufficiently TO Justify their pcrma-
ncnt working, then the stamp mill, con.
contractor and smcltcr must be provided
for, and hundreds of thousands of dollars
be expended before the mines become
established. To whom, then, shall VIC
look for this needed capital? Can we get
it at homer AsuredIy not. Our only
ecourse is to seek help elsewhere; and
where are we likely to be more successful
than with the capitalists who have made
copper mining a study for years and
who have made it profitable in other
localities. Let us take steps to draw
the attention of these men to Wyoming's
copper mines, and the first important step
will have been taken.
in order to prove that low grade copper
be served and treated at a profit, permit
me, Mr.. Editor, to quote from the recent
report Of Prof. Lawton, commissioner Of
mineral statistics Of Michigan, who says:
Comparatively few comprehend the
scale on which all the work is carried on
at our great copper mines. They do not
realize the fact that the rock from which
the copper is eliminated must be mixed
far underground at a depth of from hun
dreds to thousands of feet, and thence be
raised to the surface, taken to the rock
house, and passed through breakers,
whence it must go to the stamp mill-per-
haps several miles-and there it must be
pounded into fine mud and sand, which
in turn is run over a system Of selves, Jig
gers and slime tables, undergoing an
elaborate process of mechanical separation,
the copper from the sand, after
which the copper must be taken
to the smelling works and cast
into ingots, when 1t is ready to be sent to
market. Few, even mining men, who
are not acquainted with the details of the
work at our Michigan copper mines, are
ready to give credcnce to the statements
that rock which has a gross value of but
A.